Fresh Start
by VisforVixen
Summary: Bella is an ordinary divorcee who just wants a fresh start, but when one night turns her dream of independence and normalcy in a completely different direction, she has to learn patience and self-control when dealing with one very exasperating Oliver Queen. May have a few Season 2 episodes with some twists. Oliver X OC. Light Felicity X Barry.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! I am so excited to finally write this fanfiction. I hope you all like it. Please feel free to let me know what you think! I look forward to your thoughts.**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Arrow _but boy oh boy do I wish I did.

**Summary:** Bella is an ordinary divorcee who just wants a fresh start, but when one night turns her dream of independence and normalcy in a completely different direction, she has to learn patience and self-control when dealing with one very exasperating Oliver Queen. May have a few Season 2 episodes with some twists. Oliver X OC.

Bella walked out of Glades Memorial Hospital, thankful for the end of her 12-hour shift. After a nasty divorce and a need for independence, she moved to Starling City for a fresh start. After the fall of the Glades, the hospital was so desperate for additional medical staff that they hired her almost immediately. She had literally moved and started working in three days time. Her apartment wasn't even unpacked and they were so short-staffed that they had offered her no downtime to get settled in. Bella didn't even have furniture. She was so desperate to leave the house she shared with her ex-husband, that she just packed the necessities and told him to keep all the furniture. She would buy new furniture. Her own furniture with her own money in her own time. For now, the sleeping bag layered over two comforters and a yoga mat would have to do.

It was practically midnight as she made her way to her apartment. It was dark and she wished the city had moved quicker to install new street lamps. The city was in shambles. Large dilapidated buildings surrounded the broken streets. Turning the corner, she stumbled into two lean hooded figures. She fell back, dropping her purse, and looked up to see, what she thought to be, two teenaged boys. They both wore baggy black hoodies and she wished she was back in the hospital for another 12-hour shift instead of there.

"Oh man, look at that. This pretty little bitch is offering us her purse." One of the boys grabbed her purse off the floor while the other one took out a knife, pressing the cold metal tip against her exposed neck. She didn't fight them. Instead, she slowly got up and prepared her tired feet to stumble back and run towards the hospital for help.

"Look, you can have the purse. Just think about what you're doing. If you assault me, you'll be ruining your lives. You guys are so young. You don't have to do this." The boys chuckled, a light chuckle that seemed to flow so easily out of their mouths. They had obviously done this before.

The boy pulled the knife away from her and flung her into the nearby alleyway. Bella could hear her heart pounding in her ears. She screamed, praying that someone heard her before one of the boys slapped their filthy hand over her mouth. She tried not to panic. She tried not to cry as her green scrub top was ripped open. Her hands were restrained above her head and she felt the cold and rough strokes against her bra. Suddenly, both guys were thrown off of her in a whirl of punches and grunts. She looked over at her savior: a tall, attractive muscular black man with a hard face and warm chocolate eyes.

"Hey, are you alright? Did they hurt you?" He asked, concern filling his voice. Bella stood there in shock, mouth wide open, and her hands still above her head. He tentatively reached out to lower her arms and get her away from the brick wall.

"Uh, yes. No, they didn't. I'm sorry. I'm just really surprised to see you. Thank you so much, by the way! I don't know what to say." Bella fumbled over her words, "I'm Bella. Sorry, I think I'm in shock." A small smile graced his lips as he looked down politely, gesturing at her torn open top. She hurriedly pulled the top together, mortified that this was happening to her. Mortified, shocked, disgusted, and finally, as if it was suddenly hitting her, panicked. Very, very panicked.

"I'm John. I'm glad you're okay. You need to be more careful. This place isn't safe." He touched her arm as if sensing her sudden fear, leading her out of the alleyway and determined to walk her home. Carly wouldn't mind if he was late picking her up from work. She'd understand the circumstances. "Hey, you're okay. I'm going to walk you home and make sure no one hurts you." His tone was reassuring, but after her brief and terrifying encounter, she was a little hesitant to allow this nice stranger to see where she lived.

He slouched forward, his weight landing on her forcefully. Forgetting about her top, she grabbed John and noticed the same knife that had been pressed against her neck earlier, sticking out of his side. Somehow they had managed to bash the knife into his muscle and twist it. The lingering fear roared to life as the hoodlums started getting up again. In a brief moment of clarity, she grabbed her purse, popped out her pepper spray, and aimed it right in the faces of the two assholes that had tried to have their way with her. They yelled in pain and fell over, trying to rub the offensive sting out of their eyes. Bella hoisted John's large frame and tried to get them out of that alleyway immediately. They were pretty far from the hospital. She knew there was no way she could support his weight for that long of a distance. Her apartment was only a few blocks away. If she could just get him there, she could drive them back to the hospital before he lost too much blood.

Determination filled her as she moved with a speed she didn't know she could muster while lugging along a huge guy like John. Bella kept her eyes open for the thugs as they made their way to the garage of her building. Finally, they reached her beat up 1974 powder blue Volkswagen Bug. She leaned John against the car while she fished out her keys. Holding onto him, she opened the door, and set him down cautiously across the back seat.

"Bella… take me to… Verdant." Getting ready to pull out of her parking space, she heard his rasping plea. Again, she found her mouth gaping open.

"John, you have a knife wound. I know you are probably not coherent right now, but you need a hospital, not a club." She sounded hysterical and frankly, she felt hysterical. Right now, she should be home in her crappy apartment that had no heating or air conditioning, laying down on her uncomfortable sleeping bag.

"Back entrance." John grated out before he lost consciousness. Against her better judgment as a healthcare professional and a person of a somewhat sound mind, she made her way to the club that was only a few blocks from her apartment building.

Bella pulled into the back of the club and was practically parked outside the back entrance. It was loud and had an enormous waiting line to get in. She shook her head in exasperation as she tried getting John out of the car, but she couldn't lift him. Dread and frustration bubbled in her stomach. She pressed her fingers against his neck and felt his slow pulse. She had to attend to him now. _Right now._ She ran to the door, pounding on it forcefully and calling for help. She heard footsteps running up stairs and the door swung open, revealing a frazzled blonde girl with glasses. Felicity took a moment to look between her unconscious friend and the disheveled half-naked girl with blood all over her.

"Oh my God. What happened to Diggle?" She asked, looking at him with a hand covering her mouth.

"He saved me from some thugs. Told me to bring him here. Listen, he is unconscious. He needs medical attention. I'm a nurse practitioner. Is there anyone here who can bring him downstairs?" Bella's voice was calm but her shaking hands betrayed her. The blonde shook her head and tears were flowing down her cheeks.

"Oliver isn't here right now. It's only you and me. Do you think we can lift him together?" Bella ran to the car, not even answering her question. Thankfully, the girl was smart and followed her. Between the both of them, they were able to drag Diggle downstairs into the lair. "Since you and I are dragging my unconscious friend, I should probably tell you that I'm Felicity. Not that I wouldn't have told you otherwise or if he wasn't unconscious, but it seems to me that now would probably be a good time to let you know." The girl rambled on and Bella, for the first time in the last hour, smiled.

"I'm Bella. Help me pull him onto the metal exam table." With uncanny force, Felicity and Bella shoved Diggle onto the table. Felicity quickly rolled over the medical cart filled with supplies. Bella quickly reached into her purse and sanitized her hands. She bearly noticed her surroundings as she worked. She needed to focus on John, on that damn knife.

Felicity quietly watched Bella work. She hooked Digs up to the heart monitor, pulled out the knife, and was able to evaluate the damage and somehow quickly stop the bleeding. When she was done with her work, her impeccable stitches left Felicity impressed. Allowing Bella to continue her final assessment, she pulled out her phone and with a sense of dread, sent a quick text to Oliver. She knew he was not going to be happy.

**AN: Hello there! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Please review and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear your feedback. =]**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hello lovely readers! I hope you've all had a lovely holiday. Thank you so much for your reviews, favs, and follows! I really appreciate it. I absolutely do take suggestions, corrections, and thoughts on how to improve my story. I'm really excited to be writing it, so I hope you all are enjoying it so far. Please review and let me know what you think!**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Arrow _but boy oh boy do I wish I did.

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_Digs is hurt. Meet at Verdant. _Oliver stared at his phone for a few moments before immediately leaving his current location. He had been successful in preventing a group of drug peddlers from hashing out the new drug of choice: _Bliss_. He completely wiped out their distribution warehouse and left a hoard of unconscious profiteers for the cops to deal with. There was a sliver of discomfort in his leg as he mounted his motorcycle; he noticed a sizable gash on his thigh. Ignoring the now pulsing sting, he made his way as hastily as possible to Verdant.

"Felicity, how's Digs doing?" Oliver practically jumped down the stairs. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the tousled brunette checking Diggle's vitals and readjusting his IV. She looked up at him, her caramel eyes inspecting every inch of him. Oddly, he felt uncomfortable under her scrutinizing gaze. It took him a moment to realize her top had been completely torn open. He unwantedly took in the sight of her body. Her petite frame was graced with an ample bosom, at least for her size, covered by a gray lacey bra. She had generous hips and a supple yet untoned stomach. Oliver's eyes glazed over until he heard Felicity awkwardly cough to get his attention.

"Uh Oliver, Diggle was stabbed by a couple of guys while rescuing Bella." Felicity tried to concisely sum up the reason for Bella being there, "Bella is a nurse practitioner. She patched him up pretty well." Oliver made his way to Dig's side, not taking his eyes off of Bella for a single moment. He glanced at the neat stitching holding together the angry injury on Diggle's side.

"Felicity, why did you let her come in here? You should have redirected her to the hospital." Oliver was seething. He couldn't believe another person now knew he was the Hood. "We can't trust her and now she's probably going to go to the authorities to report I'm the Hood."

"Hey, hi. I'm right here. No need to ignore my presence. And just so you know, Felicity's right. John saved my life. I owe him. So if he trusts you, then I do too, even though I don't really know him." Bella said calmly, moving from her position next to Diggle to stand in front of Oliver. He looked down at the girl, not realizing how short she actually was. She only came up to his shoulder, but her blazing eyes gave her calm voice away and he actually found himself, the Hood, wanting to take a step back. "As for the Hood, I think what you're doing for this city is wonderful and I can't argue with the results of your methods, but right now, I'm more concerned about the way you're standing. Based on you're line of work, the angle and depth of the wound on your leg, I would infer that a grazing bullet got you. You don't have to like or trust me, but please sit down somewhere and let me take care of your injury before it gets infected." Bella's voice remained still, and Oliver noticed the fire in eyes vanish as quickly as it had appeared. She knelt down to take a closer look at Oliver's leg injury, but Oliver wasn't having it. He stooped down to redirect Bella's gaze back to his face. Her gaze caught his and her breath hitched in her throat as she saw the intensity of cobalt eyes. They were storming with anger and distrust. "Oliver or Hood or whatever you want to be called, listen, pull down your pants..." Before Bella could finish, she heard something clatter to the floor behind her. Felicity, bright red and stumbling after the metal dish that was holding Dig's bloodied gauze, tried to avoid any attention now on her and her clumsiness. Oliver grumbled at Bella's small smile and Felicity's imminent embarrassment. He walked to the training room and returned with an oversized gray t-shirt, which he promptly tossed to Bella.

"Oh right. I totally forgot about your shirt. I'm so sorry about that. I would have totally gotten you one because you're showing your goods off to everyone. I mean, not that you are unattractive. I mean you are very attractive, not that I noticed. I mean you don't really have a very lean body but you have a beautiful full-figured body. Not that you're fat. You're not fat. You're just not skinny but you're still attractive. 3…2…1…" Bella didn't think it was possible for Felicity's face to get any redder. She was very wrong. She just slipped off what remained of her scrub top and donned the t-shirt Oliver had loaned her. She noticed how one corner of Oliver's mouth tipped up in slight amusement.

"Great, so this fat-but-not-really-fat nurse practitioner is going to fix you up." Bella turned toward Oliver who was putting his Hood outfit back in the glass casing. "So who are you? You say you're the Hood, but what does that mean? I thought the Hood disappeared after the Glades fell. Are you a copycat or the original?" Bella walked over to his quiver and lightly touched an arrow. To her surprise, her finger began to bleed from the feather-light contact. Oliver immediately pulled his quiver away from her and stormed toward the training room.

Felicity sighed. She couldn't believe how rude Oliver was being. No that was a lie. She could totally believe how rude he was being. She was just hoping he wouldn't be so… well… so completely Oliver. Once they started to hear the steady thwacking of the practice dummy, Felicity noticed Bella take in her surroundings and go a little pale. The adrenaline must be wearing off. She quickly explained to Bella who they were, who Oliver was, what he was doing, and the little she knew about his experience on the island.

Bella listened, enthralled. She was in the massive lair of the Hood. _The_ Hood. She was baffled. She didn't really know what to say or how to respond. Should she run? Should she stick around and wait for possibly the most infuriating man she'd ever met to come back out? Looking around the lair, she couldn't believe the amount of sheer technology, computers and otherwise, around her. It did kind of make sense that the Hood was Oliver Queen. Who else but a billionaire would be able to afford this kind of set up and not draw suspicions if he disappeared during the work hours of _his_ company? Bella knew she should probably go. She definitely knew he didn't want her there, but her legs wouldn't obey. She found herself checking on Digs once more before picking up a few supplies and heading into the training room. Bella cautiously approached a shirtless Oliver who had changed into a pair of cargo shorts that were laying dangerous low on his hips. Her throat was suddenly much drier than she remembered.

"I don't need you to look at my leg. It's fine." Oliver ground out while laying a speedy combination of punches on the practice dummy before him.

"Felicity explained to me what you're doing here. I think what you're sacrificing is really inspiring, so please believe me when I say I'm not going to the police. If it hadn't been for your friend John, those kids would have probably killed me for the $20 I had in my purse and the opportunity to touch a woman. I owe him my life. I thought of all people, you would understand the concept of honor." Bella slid down the wall to sit across from Oliver and the practice dummy. He hesitantly moved to sit in front of her. "I just moved here a few days ago. The only reason I'm here is because the falling of the Glades caused so much damage and the hospital needed more staff." Oliver kept himself from reeling at the mention of the Glades. He was furious this woman was in Verdant. Hopefully Felicity was running a complete background check on her. Meanwhile, he allowed her to look over his leg and was surprised when she finished so quickly. He hadn't really felt any pain either.

"You're pretty good at that." Oliver gestured to the sullied supplies she was placing into a plastic bag.

"It happens when you spend years perfecting your art. By the looks of your body, I can tell no one on that island had any real medical training. As much as I like Felicity and John, I can tell stitching is not their forte. I can see a few recent scars here and there that haven't healed properly." Bella ignored the brief pained expressed on Oliver's face when she mentioned the island and unconsciously stroked her finger along a scar on his side.

"Are you in?" Oliver pulled away from Bella's fingertips. Something about her was unnerving, but she seemed so sincere and as much as he hated to admit it, so far she seemed damn good at her job and they could really use a medical professional for some of their more dangerous injuries. How many times had they almost died because they didn't really know what else could be done?

"No, I'm not in. Even if I wanted in, I couldn't work 12-hour shifts and then spend the other hours here instead of sleeping. I need to be able to focus on my patients." Bella was surprised when she felt her heart sink. She didn't realize she even wanted to join their team of renegade bad asses.

"I understand. Congratulations. You now work at Queen Consolidated as an office healthcare professional. You will have your own office and medical space." Oliver said assuredly and firm, as if daring Bella to question him. Bella had seen Oliver. She knew about his secret and he needed to protect himself and his team. He needed to keep Bella close to make sure she didn't go to the police, or so that's what he told himself.

"Oliver, I didn't go to school for all those years to be a school nurse, or I guess an office nurse. I like being part of the healing process. The people in the Glades need me." Bella was certain a man like Oliver Queen didn't normally hear the word 'no,' especially when she saw the fleeting presence of irritation in his eyes. If he thought he could just bully her into joining his team, he was in for quite a surprise.

"You've been outside. You've seen how the destruction of the Glades has turned our youth into common criminals. You've seen how there're only a limited number of people actually willing to help a woman in need. We are working to make this city better but we can't do that if any one of us are injured." Oliver didn't know why he was pressing the matter. If she didn't want to join them, he should let her go. The last thing he wanted was another person to feel responsible for, another person to mourn. "I will contact Glades Memorial Hospital tomorrow and have everything taken care of. I'll see you tomorrow at 8 AM sharp. Report to my office. Felicity can show you where it is." Oliver stood up, knowing he had basically thrown Dig saving her life in her face. He ignored the guilt budding in his chest and left to shower before she could say anything to him. Bella was going to work at QC. Period.

Bella was sure she looked like a fish out of water. Her mouth was opening and closing and she wasn't sure if she wanted to yell or throw something at that arrogant jerk. He'd known her for a collective two hours and already he was guilting her into taking a job she didn't even want! She stormed out of the training room and paced the main space angrily, spotting Felicity quirked eyebrow and how-did-he-piss-you-off-and-know-that-he'll-never-stop expression. Yeah, Bella picked all that up from the way she crossed her arms under her breasts and the tired look on her face.

"He basically ordered me to work for him at Queen Consolidated! I do not want to give out Tylenol and Band-Aids to a bunch of spoiled board members. This is madness. He can't make me do anything!" Felicity watched Bella's pacing quicken and her face turn bright red in anger. She got up and led the slightly older woman to the vacant computer chair next to her.

"Oliver can be a jerk. He is also one of the best men I have ever met. If he invited you to join our team, it's because you impressed him. I know this may not be ideal, but it's only temporary. Joining us means he needs you close and for your hours to match his. We all play a part in this crazy Hood thing. I mean, I'm his executive assistant and I have a degree from MIT. I was in your shoes a few months ago. Diggle was Special Forces and now he's Oliver's bodyguard." Felicity patted Bella's hand and turn away from her to look at her computers. Bella, feeling ashamed for having blown up but still angry, checked on Digs one last time before heading out.

"Felicity, I have got to get some sleep. John should be waking up within the next hour or so. If you see any changes, which you probably won't, give me a call. I'd give you my number but I have a strange feeling you already have it." Bella grabbed her purse and saw the cute blonde nod in agreement.

"I will see you tomorrow morning! Head all the way to the top. Once you get out of the elevators, go straight. You can't miss me." Felicity gave Bella a big smile, which Bella couldn't help but return. This was not what she had in mind when she moved to this destroyed city, yet her heart fluttered with excitement. Maybe this was all for the best?

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**AN: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I promise the next chapter will have much more action. Let me know your thoughts. I look forward to reading your reviews! Have a Happy New Year! **


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